Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy - Waltham Estates Letting Agents

Effective Date: 27/02/2025

At Waltham Estates, we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. As a professional letting agent, we value your trust and strive to be transparent about how we collect, store, and use your personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the guidelines set by Propertymark.

This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and share your personal data when you interact with our services, whether you are a landlord, tenant, or any other individual engaging with our business.

1. Data Controller

For the purposes of this privacy policy, the data controller is Waltham Estates (referred to as “we,” “us,” or “our”).

Waltham Estates
232 Hoe Street, London, E17 3AY
Email: info@walthamestates.co.uk
Phone: 02085090444

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us using the details above.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of personal information:

Landlords:

Full name
Contact details (email address, phone number, postal address)
Property details
Payment details (e.g., bank account information)
Identification information (e.g., passport, driving license)
Professional details (e.g., job title, company name if relevant)

Tenants:

Full name
Contact details (email address, phone number, postal address)
Identification information (e.g., passport, driving license)
Employment and income details
References (e.g., from previous landlords or employers)
Bank account details
Emergency contact information

Other Individuals:

Visitors to our website or those interacting with our social media accounts may have their basic information collected (e.g., IP address, browsing activity).

We only collect personal information necessary for our letting services and will ensure it is processed in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner.

3. How We Use Your Information

We may use your personal data for the following purposes:

To facilitate the letting of properties (e.g., to verify tenant information, set up tenancies, and manage payments).
To provide you with customer support and respond to your queries.
To process payments and manage financial transactions.
To conduct background checks, including credit checks, references, and Right to Rent checks.
To comply with legal obligations, such as health and safety regulations, and to provide information to regulatory authorities when required.
To send you marketing communications, where you have consented to receive them (you can opt out at any time).
To provide property management services (e.g., arranging maintenance, inspections, and legal compliance).

4. Legal Basis for Processing Your Information

We process your personal data based on the following legal grounds under the GDPR:

Consent: When you provide your explicit consent, such as agreeing to receive marketing communications.
Contractual Necessity: We process personal data to perform our contractual obligations as letting agents, such as entering into tenancy agreements or managing properties.
Legal Obligation: We process data to comply with legal requirements, such as Right to Rent checks or health and safety obligations.
Legitimate Interests: We process personal data for legitimate business interests, such as providing customer support and improving services, as long as this does not override your rights and freedoms.

5. Sharing Your Information

We will not share your personal data with third parties unless it is necessary to fulfill our services or required by law. We may share your data with:

Service providers: Including contractors, maintenance teams, and financial institutions who assist us in the day-to-day operation of the business.
Government and regulatory authorities: If required by law or regulatory bodies, including HMRC, local councils, or for compliance with the Right to Rent checks.
Credit reference agencies: To conduct credit checks on tenants.
Propertymark: For compliance purposes as part of our membership with Propertymark.

We ensure that all third parties we work with are compliant with GDPR and that they protect your data in a secure and lawful manner.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy and to comply with legal obligations. In general:

Landlord and tenant data: We retain information for the duration of the tenancy agreement and for a period of 6 years after the tenancy ends to comply with legal and financial record-keeping requirements.
Marketing communications: We retain your data for as long as you continue to receive marketing communications, after which you can opt-out or request removal.

Once personal data is no longer required, we will securely dispose of it in line with our data retention policy.

7. Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have several rights regarding your personal data:

Right to Access: You can request access to the personal data we hold about you.
Right to Rectification: You can request corrections to any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Right to Erasure: In certain circumstances, you can request that we erase your personal data (e.g., if it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected).
Right to Restrict Processing: You can request that we restrict the processing of your data, such as when you contest the accuracy of the data or object to its processing.
Right to Data Portability: You can request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used format to transfer to another service provider.
Right to Object: You can object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, including for direct marketing purposes.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided.

8. Security of Your Information

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of your personal data. These measures include encryption, access controls, and regular security audits. However, no system is completely secure, and while we take steps to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

9. International Transfers

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). If we do need to transfer your data to a country outside of the EEA, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your privacy.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Any changes will be communicated through our website or directly to you, if necessary. Please check this page regularly for the latest version.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or how we process your personal data, please contact us at: